RESEARCH BULLETIN l 051
APRIL 1972
The Costs Of Producing
Major Field Crops in Ohio
E. To SHAUDYS and G. R. PRIGGE
OHIO AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER
Wooster, Ohio
CONTENTS
* **
Introduction ______________________________________________________ 3
Crop Yields _____________________ --------------------------------- 3
Selection of Farms ________________________________ - ____ - ___ - __ - - _ _ _ 3
Field Crop Costs and Returns ________________________________________ 5
How Size of Farm Affec.ts Crop Costs ____ ·---'---------------------------- 7
Land and Fertility Costs ___________________ .-:- _________ ~ _____________ 8
Crop Yields Affect Crop Costs _____ "'"- ______________ ""':.. ________ ..:- _____ :__ 9
Profits from Corn and Hay Compared _________________________________ lo
Summary ________________________________________________________ l 0
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The assistance of the many individuals who cooperated in making this report
possible is gratefully acknowledged. Special thanks are given to the farmers cooperating in providing information and keeping records with the assistance of
Carl Blue (deceased), Karl Clemmons, and Paul Wright, Area Extension Agents,
Farm Management.
AGDEX 100-$21
4-72-~M
The Costs of Producing
Maior Field Crops in Ohio
E. T. SHAUDYS and G. R. PRIGGE1
personally perform critical activities, such as planting, which can have a significant impact on yields,
costs, and income. The limited time available for
these critical operations must be efficiently used in
assembling and operating the equipment required.
Inefficiencies in equipment use during critical periods
can greatly reduce the operator's potential.
· Second in importance to planting is the minimization of harvesting losses, including the field op- .
eration, drying, and storage. Many farm operators
closely supervise hired labor for all or part of the har:vesting activity. Large machines designed to be operated by one individual are in demand and even
larger units, if manageable, can be attractive to large
producers desiring to minimize unit costs of production and field losses.
INTRODUCTION
Crops produced and sold or fed to livestock comprise two-thirds of the cash income earned by Ohio
farmers. Profitability is influenced by the crop yields
harvested, acreage produced, efficiency of operation,
and the handling for sale or feeding of the crops.
Many efficient crop producers earn high hourly
returns. However, income opportunities from crop
production are limited because of the seasonal nature
of the activity and the availability of labor and management during critical periods. Livestock are combined with crops on many farms in order to achieve
a desired farm income. The time available for optimal performance of production <!Lctivities is limited,
especially during planting and harvesting. Deviation
from the optimum time for tillage, planting, harvesting, and marketing frequently results in increased costs,
substantial yield reductions, and decreased income.
Farm operators and managers recognize that
under-equipping for a production activity may subject the operation to high risk costs. The costs of
over-equipping can be equally high. A rational economic goal is to equip the farm at the level of investment relative to anticipated risk for the productive
work to be performed.
Effective and efficient use of available resources
influences the return earned for the contributed operator's labor and management. All productive inputs other than operator management and labor must
be purchased. Income earned in excess of acquisition costs of purchased inputs can be enjoyed as a labor and management income.
Continuing changes are occurring in farming
methods, farm managerial abilities, and technology.
Rapid changes in production and marketing technology require that farm operators be adaptive. Some
farmers continue to follow the same rotations and use
the same production and management techniques
year after year because of custom and habit. New
technological developments such as seed varieties, fertilizers, and modifications in markets and marketing
opportunities necessitate changes to maintain the
most profitable combination of crops and practices
which should be used on a particular farm. Many
farm operators consider it desirable or n·ecessary to
CROP YIELDS
During the 2-year period of 1968 and 1969, crop
yields in Ohio averaged 85 bushels of corn per acre,
30 bushels of soybeans, 62 bushels of oats, 37 bushels
of wheat, and 2.0 tons of hay per acre. During the
1968 season, the 52 farmers participating in this study
averaged 89 bushels of corn, 31 bushels of soybeans,
85 bushels of oats, 45 bushels of wheat, 14.5 tons of
corn silage, and 2.87 tons of hay per acre. The Ohio
Agronomy Guide2 indicates that the alluvial and terrace soils of western Ohio can, with good management, produce yields of 90 to 120 bushels of corn, 30
to 42 bushels of soybeans, 36 to 46 bushels of wheat,
70 to 84 bushels of oats, and 4.0 to 5.0 tons of hay
per acre (three cuttings) .
SELECTION OF FARMS
Farms located in the Corn Belt area of Ohio
were selected as being representative of commercial
operations producing crops as the major source of income. Detailed production and cost information
was obtained from 52 operators in 1968 selected as
representatives of commercial grain farms in the
northwestern, north central, and southwestern Ohio
Extension areas (Figure 1 ) .
Area Extension farm management . agents contacted each operator prior to the crop production season to gain cooperation for the study and to obtain
an inventory of machinery and equipment. Each
farm cooperator maintained a record of the labor and
equipment, custom hire, seed, fertilizers, chemicals,
1
Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and The
Ohio State University, and Professor of Economics and Business, Mt.
Union College, Alliance, Ohio.
2
1970-1971 Agronomy Guide, Cooperative Extension Service,
The Ohio State University, Bull. 470.
3
TRUMBULL
®
MAHONING
STARK
WAYNE
COLUMBIANA
(j)
HOLMES
MERCER
·cosHOCTON
0
DARKE
DELAWARE
LICKING
CHAMPAIGN
MIAMI
FRANKLIN
©
MUSKINGUM
PREBLE
®
BUTLER
[71
llLl
FIG. 1.-0hio Extension areas.
4
Areas in which the
crop cost study
£arms were located.
TABLE 1.-Receipts, Expenses, Net Returns, and Yields per Acre for Selected
Farm Crops, Ohio, 1968 (Farms with 500 or More Acres of Cropland).
Corn
Soybeans
Oats
Wheat Corn Silage*
Hayt
Number of farms
Yields per Acre
Receipt4
Expenses
Labor
Tractor
Machinery
Fertilizer and Lime
Seed
Chemicals
Land
51
89 bu.
$99.68
36
31 bu.
$77.50
22
85 bu.
$55.25
43
45 bu.
$63.00
21
14.5 ton
$101.50
24
2.85 ton
$64.13
$ 5.41
4.85
19.25
19.10
4.94
2.45
30.27
$ 5.10
4.40
13.05
2.17
3.65
2.3'3
32.60
$ 4.18
3.72
7.70
8.79
4.16
.18
31.51
$ 3.88
3.47
12.76
12.81
4.00
.02
31.13
$
6.58
8.92
16.70
19.35
4.80
3.93
27.65
$ 9.91
6.18
11.73
1.40
2.34
.39
24.22
TOTAL
Costs per Bushel or Ton
Profits per Acre
$86.27
$ .97
$13'.41
$63.30
$ 2.04
$14.20
$87.93
$ 6.06
$13.57
$56.17
$19.71
$ 7.96
$68.07
$60.24
$ 1.51
$ .71
- $ 4.99 - $ 5.07
*Costs for corn silage are for production, harvesting, and storing but do not include the costs of
using the silo structure.
tHay costs are based on acres of meadow harvested: 757 acres of first, 606 acres of second,
and 301 acres of third crop hay were made.
tPrices used to determine receipts were: corn, $1 .12 per bushel; soybeans, $2.50 per bushel;
oats, $0.65 per bushel; wheat, $1 .40 per bushel; corn silage, $7 .00 per ton; and hay, $22.50 per ton.
equipment were based on the hours of use reported.
Overhead costs included machinery in the farm inventory but not used during the 1968 year, plus supplies
and miscellaneous expenses.
Land charges were computed using 5.5 percent
interest for the current land value, plus real estate
taxes at 30 mills on 40 percent of the market value of
the land.
Corn and soybean equipment costs accounted for
20 to 25 percent of the total production costs. Labor
comprised another 6 to 8 percent of the. total costs.
Equipment and labor accounted for 30 percent of
the total production costs. Since labor and equipment substitute, it is significant that total costs for
various labor-equipment combinations were similar
when the equipment was used in accordance with
capacity .. Seed and chemicals (herbicides and insecticides) comprise the remaining input costs.
The farms were sorted into quartile groups based
on production costs per bushel or ton. The average
costs of inputs for the high-cost quartile of farm operators were compared with the average input costs
for the low-cost quartile of farm operators. Highcost and low-cost quartiles were used to observe basic
differences in production costs, yields, and managerial
performance (Tables 2 to 7).
Production costs per bushel of corn for the highprofit quartile group ranged from 65¢ to 81 ¢ and
averaged 74¢ per bushel. The low-profit corn producers had per bushel costs ranging from $1.06 to
$2.35, with an average cost of $1.16 per bushel.
and other materials used in production. Periodic
visits were made to each farm to obtain additional
production information .. Detailed reports were submitted by the farm cooperator to the area farm management agent following each major phase of his
crop production activity. After field editing for accuracy and completeness by the area agents, the information was summarized.
FIELD CROP COSTS AND RETURNS
Based on the average prices for these field crops,
the 52 crop cost study farm cooperators had a net
return of $13.41 per acre of corn, $14.20 per acre of
soybeans, $13 .5 7 per acre of corn silage, and $7 .96
per acre of hay produced. These same farmers realized an average loss of $4.99 per acre of oats and
$5.07 per acre of wheat produced (Table 1).
All costs were based on production methods used
and prices paid by the participating farmer operators.
Labor: Actual hours of labor used were reported by farm cooperators and charged at $2.00 per hour.
Tractor and machine ownership costs were determined from information provided by each farmer.
The acquisition cost, year purchased, and remaining
life were obtained for each machine. Annual straight
line depreciation and present inventory value were
computed and used as a basis for this annual use cost
which was prorated to each crop produced.
Interest, taxes, insurance, and housing were
charged at 7 percent of the present value. Fuel, oil
and grease, and operating expenses for the motorized
5
TABLE 5.-Costs of Producing Wheat, Ohio, 1968.
TABLE 2.-Costs of Produdng Corn, Ohio, 1968.
Item
Production Costs per Acre
High Profit 25 %
Low Profit 25 %
Number of Farms
Crop Acres per Farm
Acres in Corn
Bushels per Acre
Hours of Labor per Acre
13
13
591
279
107
2.6
418
269
76
2.8
Land Charges
Fertilizer and Lime
Tractor
Harvest Equipment
Other Equipment
Labor
Seed
Chemicals
Other
TOTAL
Costs per Bushel Harvested
$30.24
17.05
4.20
6.76
6.98
5.14
4.73
2.90
.62
$78.62
$ .74
$30.30
21.14
5.50
6.51
8.56
5.68
4.30
3.99
2.41
$88.39
Item
$ 1.16
TABLE 3.-Costs of Producing Soybeans, Ohio, 1968.
Item
Production Costs per Acre
High Profi.t 25 %
Low Profit 25 %
Number of Farms
Crop Acres per Farm
Acres in Wheat
Bushels per Acre
Hours of Labor per Acre
11
463
50
50
2.0
11
337
40
37
1.9
Land Charges
Fertilizer and Lime
Tractor
Harvest Equipment
Other Equipment
Labor
Seed
Chemicals
Other
TOTAL
Costs per Bushel Harvested
$28.26
11.22
3.16
3.72
3.64
4.01
4.09
.03
.69
$58.82
$1.18
$34.00
14.40
3.78
4.13
7.08
3.75
3.90
.00
.95
$71.99
$1.95
TABLE 6.-Costs of Producing Corn Silage, Ohio, 1968.
Production Costs per Acre
High Profit 25 %
Low Profit 25 %
Item
Production Costs per Acre
High Profit 25 %
Low Profit 25 %
Number of Farms
Crop Acres per Farm
Acres in Soybeans
Bushels per Acre
Hours of Labor per Acre
9
619
169
37
2.2
9
338
94
24
2.8
Number of Farms
Crop Acres per Farm
Acres of Corn Silage
Tons per Acre
Hours of Labor per Acre
5
639
44
18.l
3'.3
5
580
75
12.2
3.7
Land Charges
Fertilizer and Lime
Tractor
Harvest Equipment
Other Equipment
Labor
Seed
Chemicals
Other
TOTAL
Costs per Bushel Harvested
$30.31
2.61
3.65
3.01
4.05
4.56
3.92
2.95
.85
$55.91
$1.51
$34.89
1.72
5.14
2.00
8.28
5.63
3.39
1.70
1.10
$63.85
$2.66
Land Charges
Fertilizer and Lime
Tractor
Other Equipment
Labor
Seed
Chemicals
Other
TOTAL
Costs per Ton Harvested
$23.63
16,93
12.51
20.03
6.59
3.71
3.71
.33
$87.44
$4.83
$27.30
24.01
8.68
12.78
7.39
4.71
5.62
1.17
$91.66
$7.51
TABLE 7.-Costs of Producing Hay, Ohio, 1968.
TABLE 4.-Costs of Producing Oats, Ohio, 1968.
Item
Production Costs per Acre
High Profit 25 %
Low Profit 25 %
Number of Farms
Crop Acres per Farm
Acres in Oats
Bushels per Acre
Hours of Labor per Acre
5
339
22
94
2.3
5
430
19
56
1.5
Land Charges
Fertilizer and Lime
Tractor
Harvest Equipment
Other Equipment
Labor
Seed
Chemicals
Other
TOTAL
Costs per Bushel Harvested
$26.79
7.46
6.25
3.42
3.49
4.65
3.00
.28
.72
$56.06
$ .60
$33.01
8.44
2.30
4.63
1.85
2.93
3.15
.04
1.38
$57.73
$ 1.03
Item.
Production Costs per Acre*
High Profit 25%
Low Profit 25 %
Number of Farms
Acres per Farm
Acres of Hay
Tons per Acre
Hours of Labor per Acre
5
580
48
3.74
3.5
5
424
24
l.68
4.6
Land Charges
Fertilizer and Lime
Tractor
Harvest Equipment
Other Equipment
Labor
Seed
Chemicals
Other
TOTAL
Costs per Ton Harvested
$20.94
4.76
4.93
9.72
.26
7.02
1.45
.64
1.93
$51.65
$13.81
$22.14
4.32
9.22
7.47
4.24
9.18
4.29
.57
5.08
$66.51
$39.59
*Based on actual acres harvested: high-profit farms, 127 acres
of first, 196 acres of second, and 171 acres of third crop hay; lowprofit farms, 52 acres of first, 81 acres of second, and 81 acres
of third crop hay.
6
beans have substantially increased, while the total
bushels of wheat and oats produced have declined
from the production of 20 years ago.
Acreages devoted to the production of small
grain crops reflect the economic opportunities. It is
noted, however, that some farm situations offer advantageous opportunities for small grain production.
Although meadow does not appear to be as profitable
as corn and soybeans, it is desirable on some farms for
the maintenance of organic matter, improvement of
soil fertility, and controlling erosion.
The costs of producing a bushel of soybeans varied from $1.04 to $1.65 for the high-profit farms, with
an average of $1.51 per bushel. For the low-profit
farms, the costs of producing soybeans ranged from
$2.16 to $3.69 per bushel and averaged $2.63 per
bushel.
The most significant cost-related differences on
these farms were yields per acre. For example, highprofit corn producers achieved an average yield of
107 bushels per acre compared to an average of 76
bushels per acre on the low-profit farms. Highprofit soybean producers raised 37 bushels and lowprofit producers raised 24 bushels of soybeans per
acre.
Land charges were comparable for both groups
of farmers, with the low-profit· farm operators actually reporting slightly higher land charges than the
high-profit group of farmers.
With the exception of harvest costs, machinery
charges were higher on the low-profit farms than on
the high-profit farms. The lower. harvesting costs_
resulted from the lower yields per acre, requiring fewer hours of equipment use for harvesting.
Differences in fertilizers, chemicals, and labor
contributed to the higher per acre and per bushel
costs associated· with the low-profit farm operations.
Some seemingly small but important differences included a slightly higher seed cost for the high-profit
quartile of corn and soybean producers as compared
to the low-profit quartile of farm operators. Although
the seed costs were only 53¢ more per acre for corn
and 54¢ more per. acre for soybeans, these differences
suggest the use of better quality seed and/or higher
plant populations. Additional expenditure for seed
has leverage and, if other elements required for growth
and production are available, such as fertility, moisture, and weed control, can result in substantially increased yields and income.
In determining which crops to grow, farmers
often consider factors other than the relative profits
· per acre. Livestock programs, markets available, soil
conservation, government programs, and labor availability are often considered. Both of the small grains,
oats and wheat, were not as profitable as corn and
soybeans produced on most farms. The high-income
quartile farm operators did produce small grain crops
profitably. During the 20-year period 1948-1968,
wheat acreage in Ohio decreased from 2.4 to 1.2 milmillion acres and oats from 1.1 to 0.7 million acres.
During this same period, soybean acreage increased
from 0.9 to 2.3 million acres and corn declined from
3.5 to 3.1 million acres.
Per acre yields of corn and soybeans have increased by about 50' percent during. the past two decades. In Ohio, the total bushels of corn and soy,
HOW SIZE OF FARM AFFECTS CROP COSTS
Size of the farm operation was another factor
influencing production cost differences. The highprofit, low-cost per bushel and per acre operators had
larger farm units than the high-cost, low-profit farm
operators. Differences in profitability are not explained by either costs of inputs or differences in
yields alone. Rather, an interaction of costs and
yields accounts for the important profit differences.
Crop costs per acre for 600 crop acre farms were
lower than 400 crop acre farm operations by the following amounts: corn, $9 .50; soybeans, $8.00; and
wheat, $14.00 per acre. These reductions in costs
were due to lower costs per acre for labor, tractor
power, and machinery use. Larger acreages of land
in the farming unit did not have lower expenditures
per acre for seed, spray, lime, and mineral nutrients.
Machinery costs were higher for large than small
machines on a per hour basis. The per acre use cost
TABLE 8.-Crop Costs per Acre by Crop Acres
per Farm.
Crop Acres
4o'o
600
Crop
$88.39
63.85
71.99
Corn
Soybeans
Wheat
$78.83
55.91
58.82
TABLE 9.-Tractor Costs per Hour on 38 Ohio
Commercial Farms.
Annual
Hours of Use
Less than 100
100-200
200-3'00
300-400
400-500
500-600
600-700
More than 700
Size of Tractors (Plow Bottoms)
2 or Less
2-3
3-4
4-5
$2.75
2.35
*
1.13
*No data available.
7
$5.75
3.80
3.09
2.07
2.35
$7.50
4.56
3.70
2.82
2.13
*
$6.63
3.33
3.39
3.44
2.38
2.37
5-6
•
5.15
4.24
3.82
3.66
3.33
3.18
erators combining 700 to 1000 acres per year experienced use costs of $4.25 to $4.50 per acre. It is significant to note that two-row corn combines exhibited
costs which compared with costs of four- and six-row
units when acreages harvested per row of capacity
were comparable (Table 10).
Three-row combines had higher costs per acre
than the other size machines. The area harvested
per row capacity averaged 165 acres for two-row
combines, 148 acres for three-row combines, 189 acres
for four-row combines, and 181 acres for six-row combines.
If a larger acreage had been harvested with the
three-row combines, costs would have been comparable. The two-, four-, and six-row machines were
used to harvest 17 to 41 more acres per row than the
three-row machines. It is apparent that the combine
owners were aware of machine use costs. The large
acreages harvested by owners of some large machines
may not provide adequate risk protection. During
unfavorable conditions, crop loss costs may more than
offset the low use costs achieved during favorable
seasons.
Corn acreage accounted for more than half ( 55
percent) of the average 445 acres combined per farm.
Soybeans accounted for 25 percent and small grains
20 percent _of the total harvested acreages (Table 11).
~LABOR
ma
$3.63
$2.58
TRACTOR
$2.26
$2.02
2-3
··-·-· .. •.. •.. •
4-5
NUMBER OF PLOW BOTTOMS
3-4
5-6
FIG. 2.-Tractor and labor costs per acre for
plowing.
was about the same regardless of machine size when
each piece of equipment was used a similar number
of hours. The use of large machines permitted a reduction in hours of labor required, and thus labor
costs were reduced when an adequate volume of use
was attained. For example, a 4 to 5 plow tractor
costs $2.38 per hour when used 500 or more hours per
year compared to $2.07 to $2.35 per hour for a 2 to
3 plow tractor used 300 to 500 hours per year. When
labor costs and tractor use costs were combined, large
tractors had much lower costs per acre of use than
small tractors (Figure 2) .
Large tractors displayed a cost advantage since
labor costs were spread over more acres and bushels
of products. Reduction in machine use costs per acre
on large farms can be attributed to more efficient use
of labor.
A similar relationship was found for combine
utilization and costs. Farmers using a combine to
harvest an average of 82 acres of small grain and corn
per year had average costs of $11. 72 per acre. Op-
LAND AND FERTILITY COSTS
Corn yields for the high-profit farm operations
averaged 102 bushels per acre for the southwestern
area and 120 bushels per acre for the northwestern
area of Ohio (Table 12). Land and fertility costs
totaled $44.75 for the southwestern and $55.23 for
the northwestern areas. The differences in land
TABLE 11.-Acres Harvested per Combine by
Crops on 34 Ohio Farms, 1968.
Crops
Corn
Soybeans
Small Grains
TOTAL
TABLE 10.-Harvesting Costs per Acre by Size
of Combine, 22 Ohio Farms.
Size
(Corn Rows)
Acres
2
3
4
6
329
445
757
1085
Acreas per Row
of Header·
165
148
189
181
Equipment and
Labor Costs
per Acre
TABLE 12.-Corn
Costs, Ohio, 1968.
$5.85
7.46
5.98
5.43
Acreage·
Percent
245
110
90
445
Yields,
55
25
20
100
La,nd
and
Fertilizer
Area
Yields
Land Costs
Fertilizer Costs
Costs per acre exclusive of labor were: 2-row, $4.61; 3-row,
$6.17; 4-row, $5.34; 6-row, $4.64.
8
Southwestern
Northwestern
102 bu.
$27.62
17.13
120 bu.
$38.37
16.86
charges reflect land productivity as evaluated by the .
farm operators.
Over-pricing or over-payment for land can offset any possibility of profit. Efficiencies in equipment usage, labor, seed, and chemicals offered limited
but important opportunities for cost reductions.
TABLE 13.-Fertilizer Used and Yields per Acre
on Typical Western Ohio Soils.*
Yields per Acre
Corn
Soybeans
Wheat
CROP YIELDS AFFECT CROP COSTS
80
100
120
N
P205
K2 0
90
120
140
30
40
30
40
45
45
*Agronomy Guide, Cooperative Extension
State University, Bull. 470.
High-yield crop producers generally had lower
costs per bushel or per ton than operators experiencing low yields. On well-managed western Ohio
farms, 100 bushels per acre of corn can be produced
for about 85¢ to 90¢ per bushel. Eighty bushel
yields will cost about $1.00 to $1.10 per bushel.
Forty-five bushel yields of wheat per acre can be produced for about $1.40 a bushel, but 35 bushels per
acre cost about $1.90 per bushel. Four tons of hay
per acre can be produced for about $18 a ton, while
a total realized yield of only 1 ton per acre would cost
about $40.
High yields reduced the cost of producing a
bushel of grain by about 25 percent, the cost of producing a ton· of silage by a third, and the cost of producing a ton of hay by more than 50 percent. These
reductions in costs per unit of output are considerably greater than the cost reductions made by increasing the farm unit land area.
High crop yields can be produced more cheaply
per bushel .or per ton than low crop yields because
Service,
The
Ohio
the high fixed expenses are similar for both situations.
Costs of plowing, discing, planting, and cultivating
are about the same per acre regardless of yields.
The most efficient crop producer may not have
the lowest costs per acre because of larger expendi- ·
tures for fertilizers, lime, and seed, and higher labor
and equipment costs for harvesting larger yields.
More profit per acre is possible for the efficient crop
farmers because of higher yields and lower production
costs per bushel or ton produced.
·
Fertilizer applications needed to produce several
levels of crop yields are shown in Table 13.
Labor and management income figures show the
relative profitability of several different rotations
when yields of 100 bushels of corn, 3 2 bushels of soybeans, 45 bushels of wheat, and 2.9 tons of hay per
acre are produced.
$1.45
$1.00
• 84
$2.40
.73
$2.00
.64
$1. 71
.57
55
95
llO
80
125
Bushels of Corn Raised per Acre
$1.50
140
25
30
35
40
$1.33
$1.20
45
50
Bushels of Wheat Raised per Acre
$2.80
$2.24
$44
$1. 87
$1.60
$1.40
$26
$1.24
20
25
30
35
40
$20
1
45
Bushels of Soybeans Raised per Acre
2
3
$17
4
Tons- of Hay Harvested per Acre
FIG. 3.-lncreased yields reduce crop costs per bushel or per ton.
9
$15
5
TABLE 14.-Calculated Average Yearly Labor
and Management Income per Acre for Different Cropping Systems.
the most profitable crop which his resources will allow him to produce and market efficiently.
PROFITS FROM CORN AND HAY COMPARED
Income per Acre
Rotation
Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Hay
Corn, Corn, Wheat, Hay
Corn, Corn, Corn, Wheat, Hay
Continuous Corn
Continuous Soybeans
Which is more profitable-corn or hay? The
answer to this question depends on the yields of corn
and hay and the market prices of these crops when
they are sold or fed to livestock.
The study of crop costs in western Ohio indicated that a hay yield of about 3.7 tons of $20 per ton
hay is needed to equal a yield of 100 bushels of corn
per acre. Labor and management returns from
meadow crops will equal those from corn when high
hay yields are obtained and the market value averages $20 per ton or higher. The profit return per
acre as shown in Table 15 is $16.50 for 100-bushel
corn yields and $16.25 for 3.7-ton hay yields.
Efficient feeding of livestock increases farm income, even if feed is purchased. However, if livestock feed is valued at market prices, the profitability
of corn and hay products wo~ld be comparable.
$13.23
13.30
17.37
22.50
22.25
On land not subject to erosion and adapted to
corn and soybeans, more acres in these crops will
usually mean higher profits per acre.
For the most profitable crop production, the
combination of crops grown should be examined
periodically to determine the desirability of cash sales
compared with feeding livestock. New developments in varieties, reductions in fertilizer costs, and
changes in markets often change considerably the most
profitable combination of crops which can be grown
on a particular soil.
The following are generally considered high-profit crops: vegetable crops, sugar beets, corn, soybeans,
and alfalfa hay. Low-profit crops usually include
oats, clover-timothy hay, rye, barley, and in recent
years wheat. The farm manager should strive for
SUMMARY
Detailed crop production cost information was
obtained from 52 farm cooperators in the north central, northwestern, and southwestern areas of Ohio
for 1968.
The average costs of producing a bushel of corn
were 97¢; soybeans, $2.04; oats, 71¢; wheat, $1.51;
a ton of corn silage, $6.06; and a ton of hay, $19.71.
For the high-profit qlJ.artile of operators, production
costs were: corn, 74¢ per bushel; soybeans, $1.51;
oats, 60¢; wheat, $1.18; corn silage, $4.83 per ton;
and hay, $13.81 per ton. In contrast, the high-cost,
low-profit farmers had costs of producing a bushel of
corn, $1.16; soybeans, $2.63; oats, $1.03; wheat,
$1.95; corn silage, $7.51 per ton; and hay, $39.59
per ton.
Land and fertilizer comprised 60 percent of total
crop production costs; labor, 30 percent; and seed,
chemicals, and other inputs, 10 percent. Some of
these small-cost items such as seed resulted in major
profit differences. Seed costs for high-profit farms
were 43¢ per acre higher for corn and 53¢ per acre
higher for soybeans than for low-profit farms, while
all other costs except harvesting were lower.
Size of operation and equipment use efficiency
resulted in important cost differences.
TABLE 15.-Receipts, Expenses, and Profits from
Growing an Acre of Corn and Hay in Western Ohio.
100 Bu. Corn
3.7 Tons Hay
Prices
$1.05/bu.
$20.00/ton
Receipts
$105.00
$74.00
Expenses
Labor
$ 6.00
Tractor
5.00
Machinery
20.00
Fertilizer and Liine
20.00
Seed
5.00
Spray
2.50
Land
30.00
$ 9.00
6.30
11.75
1.40*
2.60
.40
26.30
TOTAL
$88.50
$57.75
Profits
$16.50
$16.25
*Fertilizer applied to hay.
included.
Residual soil fertility was not
10
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7~
State 1a
~ (!a~
;'/~'if!~
Ohio's major soil types and climatic
conditions r=ire represented at the Research Center's 13 locations. Thus, Center scientists can make field tests under
conditions similar to those encountered
by Ohio farmers.
Research is conducted by 15 departments on more than 6500 acres at Center
headquarters in Wooster, nine branches,
Green Springs Crops Research Unit, Pomerene Forest Laboratory, and The Ohio
State University.
Center Headquarters, Wooster, Wayne
County: 1953 acres
Eastern Ohio Resource Development Center, Caldwell, Noble County: 2053
acres
Gr~en Springs Crops Research Unit, Green
Springs, Sandusky County: 26 acres
/o1t
ad '[)~ent
Jackson Branch, Jackson, Jackson County: 344 acres
Mahoning County Farm, Canfield: 275
acres
Muck Crops Branch, Willard, Huron County: 15 acres
North Central Branch, Vickery, Erie County: 335 acres
Northwestern Branch, Hoytville, Wood
County: 247 acres
Pomerene Forest, Laboratory, Keene
Township, Coshocton County: 227
acres
Southeastern Branch, Carpenter, Meigs
County: 330 acres
Southern Branch, Ripley, Brown County:
275 acres
Western Branch, South Charleston, Clark
County: 428 acres